Working as a self-employed bookkeeper in the UK

What a self-employed bookkeeper does day to day

The bookkeeping is the same as in an employed job. What changes is that you do it for several clients, each with its own records and habits, and no senior colleague checks the work.

Collect each client's invoices, receipts and bank statements, and ask for what is missing.
Enter the sales and the purchases, each to the right account.
Reconcile each client's bank account, and explain every difference.
Keep the VAT records and prepare the figures for the VAT return, for a client that is registered.
Run the payroll, for a client who asks for it.
Do the month-end checks, and tell the client what they are owed, what they owe and what needs their attention.
Hand tidy records to the client's accountant at the year end.
Run your own business as well: find clients, agree the work with each one, invoice for it and keep your own books.

A bookkeeper keeps the records. An accountant uses them to prepare the year-end accounts and tax returns, and to advise. Part of the work is saying when a client's question is one for their accountant.

The skills the work uses

Each skill below is practised in a named part of Ledger Drill. A path is a subject, and a module is one part of a path.

Double entry, unaided: Nobody else will catch a wrong side. The module Double entry from zero, in the path Bookkeeping foundations.
Reconciling: Matching two records line by line and explaining what is left: first the bank, then a control account. The modules Bank reconciliation and Control accounts, in the same path.
VAT in the books: Recording VAT and finding the figures for each box of the return, with any rate given in the question. The modules How VAT works, VAT in the books and The VAT return, in the path VAT in practice.
Putting errors right: A journal for any correction, the errors a trial balance hides, and clearing a suspense account. The modules The journal, Errors the trial balance hides and Errors and the suspense account, in the path Journals, errors and control accounts.
A month-end routine: The same checks in the same order, every month, for every client. The module Month-end checks.
A sole trader's records: What a sole trader keeps, and business costs against private ones. The modules Getting set up and Business expenses, in the path Self-employed: your books and Self Assessment.
Payroll: A pay run for a small team. The module Running a payroll, in the path Payslips, tax codes and payroll.
Confidentiality: You see what each client earns and owes. The module Principles and ethics, in the path Final accounts, has a room on it.

The usual routes in

These are the usual ways in, in no order.

Work as an employed bookkeeper or accounts assistant first, then take on clients.
Study for a bookkeeping qualification, then start. AAT and ICB are two bodies that award bookkeeping qualifications in the UK. Their own websites have what is current.
Start from keeping the books of your own business or a family business, then add clients.

No route promises clients. This page does not say how long any of them takes, or what the work brings in.

Before you take on a client

Someone who keeps books for clients as their own business needs anti-money-laundering supervision. GOV.UK explains who needs it and how to register. This page is not advice.

GOV.UK also explains what to do when you start working for yourself. Read both before you take on a first client.

What clients ask to see

A client is choosing someone to trust with its records. Small businesses advertise for bookkeepers on job sites, and those adverts show what they ask for now.

Experience of the tasks: the ledgers, the bank, VAT records, payroll.
Experience with a business like theirs.
A qualification, or study towards one.
The accounting software the client already uses.
References, from a client or an employer.
A plain statement of what you will do, and when.

This page gives no figures for what a bookkeeper charges or earns. Both depend on the area, the work and your experience, and any figure here would soon be out of date.

How to practise the skills on Ledger Drill

Ledger Drill is practice. Each room is a few lines of reading, then questions you answer in a set of books, and every answer is marked at once. Working alone, that marking stands in for the colleague who would have checked your entry.

Ledger Drill does not award a qualification, and it is not affiliated with any awarding body. It is not tax or accounting advice, and it teaches no accounting package.

The rooms below are the core of client work: the two sides of an entry, the bank, VAT, the journal, the month end and confidentiality.

Practise it

Module, 5 rooms, all freeDouble entry from zero

Module, 2 rooms, all freeBank reconciliation

Module, 2 rooms, PremiumControl accounts

Module, 5 rooms, all freeHow VAT works

Module, 5 rooms, PremiumVAT in the books

Module, 5 rooms, PremiumThe VAT return

Module, 5 rooms, all freeThe journal

Module, 5 rooms, PremiumErrors the trial balance hides

Module, 5 rooms, PremiumErrors and the suspense account

Module, 5 rooms, PremiumMonth-end checks

Module, 5 rooms, all freeGetting set up

Module, 5 rooms, PremiumBusiness expenses

Module, 5 rooms, PremiumRunning a payroll

Module, 5 rooms, PremiumPrinciples and ethics

Practise it nowDebit and credit

Words used here

Double entry: Double entry means every transaction is posted twice: a debit in one account and a credit of the same amount in another.
Bank reconciliation: A bank reconciliation explains the gap between the balance in the cash book and the balance on the bank statement.
VAT return: A VAT return is a summary of one VAT period: the VAT due on sales, the VAT reclaimed on purchases and the difference.
Journal: The journal is the book of prime entry for anything that fits in neither a day book nor the cash book.
Trial balance: A trial balance lists every account balance in two columns, debit and credit. If the bookkeeping is right, the totals agree.
Suspense account: A suspense account is a temporary account that holds the difference when a trial balance does not agree.

Questions

Do I need to register with anyone before I take on bookkeeping clients?

Someone who keeps books for clients as their own business needs anti-money-laundering supervision. GOV.UK explains who needs it and how to register, and what to do when you start working for yourself. This is not advice.

What is the difference between a self-employed bookkeeper and an accountant?

A bookkeeper keeps a client's records complete and correct through the year. An accountant uses those records to prepare year-end accounts and tax returns, and to advise.

How much does a self-employed bookkeeper charge?

This page gives no figures. What a bookkeeper charges depends on the area, the work and experience, and any figure here would go out of date.

Can I practise client bookkeeping on Ledger Drill?

You can practise the entries, the reconciliations, the VAT figures and the month-end checks, with every answer marked at once. It is practice only: it gives no advice and teaches no accounting package.